1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective case for an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among electronic devices, portable terminals have recently experienced rapid development. The portable terminals tend to employ various additional functions in addition to a basic telephony function. To cope with users' demands, portable terminals having various functions have been launched.
Such a portable terminal has been evolved from initial-stage terminals having various opening forms, for example, a bar-type terminal, a folder-type terminal, a slide-type terminal, etc., to a smart phone which has a typical bar-type form and has a touch input/output pattern with a large screen placed to occupy a greater part of a front side of the terminal.
Such a smart phone includes a basic telephony function and a digital camera module, and in addition thereto, is capable of performing communication through Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) or 3rd Generation (3G), 4th Generation (4G) network, wireless communication with neighboring devices through a Bluetooth module, and communication using Near Field Communication (NFC). In addition, a variety of location information services can be accessed using the smart phone by simultaneously employing a Global Positioning System (GPS) module, a terrestrial magnetism sensor, or an ambient light sensor, etc. The usage environment of the smart phone can thus be automatically controlled using various communication and location functions.
Meanwhile, the smart phone allows a user to capture a High Definition (HD) video by using a digital camera, to listen to the music by using an MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3) file, and to enjoy a video file by storing the file into an internal memory without an additional encoding process.
Such functions require a speaker device for allowing the user to listen music or sounds. The user can independently listen to a speaker sound by inserting an ear-jack to an ear-jack hole disposed in a particular place of a portable terminal and then by placing an earphone device to an ear of the user. However, typically at least one speaker device is installed in addition to an ear piece for a call so that many people around the user can listen the speaker sound, and it is implemented such that the speaker sound is output through a speaker hole formed in a case frame of the terminal.
For enabling multimedia functions of the smart phone, the speaker device has an important role. It is difficult to output a high-power sound to a more compact-sized speaker device, and there is a challenge to provide two or more stereo or surround speaker sounds by using one speaker device.
However, according to a recent trend of providing various functions at the same time in order to make the device slimmer, lighter, thinner, and simpler, in order to cope with customers' demands, the speaker device applied to the portable terminal must be limited in its size and output. Such limitations of the speaker device cause problems of performance deterioration of the terminal.
Therefore, in order to solve a low-power problem of the speaker device, an additional speaker sound amplification device (so-called a ‘speaker dock’) can be used. When the portable terminal is placed to an upper portion of the speaker sound amplification device, a speaker sound is output to an outside of the device.
However, since the additional speaker sound amplification device is relatively expensive, it is difficult to purchase the device. Further, since the additional speaker sound amplification device is large enough to place the portable terminal therein, portability is low, and there is a high risk of loss since the user has to carry the speaker sound amplification device in addition to the portable terminal.
Additionally, consumers who purchase a high-priced smart phone use an additional protective case by placing the case to the smart phone to protect an exterior of the smart phone and to maintain a best grip feel. The protective case for the terminal is made of a material such as rubber, silicon, urethane, etc., that can be attached to one side of the terminal or that can entirely cover the terminal except for a display device.
However, the protective case of the portable terminal typically has just the single function of protecting or beatifying the exterior of the portable terminal.